


Jogging Partners

by Starling_Strider



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Female Clint, Female Clint Barton, Genderbending, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I love all Avengers ships, Jogging, Minor Jane Foster/Thor, Seriously how do i tag, Strangers to Lovers, brief mention of Jane Foster - Freeform, femClint, just an idea i had
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 18:57:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4030969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starling_Strider/pseuds/Starling_Strider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Claire likes to go jogging. And so does Thor. The two of them go jogging nearly every morning together, trying to outrace each other every time. Claire thinks he's great, competitive and gorgeous with a grin that could blind you. Thor thinks she's amazing, competitive and determined with the most beautiful smile he's ever seen.<br/>What's really great about all of it though? They've never said a word to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jogging Partners

Claire worked out every single day. It wasn't a health thing, she just felt an overwhelming need to work out every day. Like if she didn't she was going to get all weak and end up hurt somehow. Natasha called her paranoid. Claire blamed her older brother. Oh well, the reason didn't matter. All that mattered was that every day she worked out, four days a week she went to the gym, and every single day she went jogging. She usually just jogged around campus, just making sure she got her required running, but on days she wanted to push herself she jogged around the nearby park. And on days she  _really_  wanted to push herself, she tried to keep up with the guy with the long blonde hair.

He was about her age, maybe a few years older, but she'd never seen him around campus. She didn't think she had anyways because damn she would remember him. He was gorgeous! His hair was about shoulder length and his eyes were _soooo_  pretty (don't tell Natasha she ever thought that). They were bluer than the ocean and he had long dark eyelashes that just seemed to make the blue stand out more. And  _God_ , he was freaking massive! And that was something coming from Claire since she knew Steve freaking Rogers, Mister America with the Washboard Abs of Justice. The guy had a good three inches on Steve and his whole body was broader. His muscles were also, admittedly, bigger and Claire knew that for a fact because when he got sweaty on jogs his shirt clung to him like a second layer of skin. It was actually a great motivator when she was trying to keep up with him. If she kept up with him, she got to stare at him longer. He was, in short, one of the best looking guys Claire had ever seen.

And she was absolutely determined to beat his ass at jogging.

They didn't always see each other, sometimes Claire didn't run in the mornings and sometimes he didn't either, but when they did they always raced. It hadn't started like that either. At first they'd just passed each other while out, exchanging nods when they made eye contact and that was all. But then he started running past Claire more than she ran past him and she became determined to beat him. He seemed to catch on after a few days of her speeding up every time he got close and the next day he shot her a grin as she sped up before speeding up himself, leaving her to chase after him with a determined look in her eyes. About a week later they started slowing down every time they saw each other, getting to an almost walk. They'd wait for the other to get in step with them and then they'd take off running at the same time. Like they really were racing. He won more often than not, reaching the end of the park track just seconds before she did, but that just made her more determined. At the end, at least one of them would collapse on the grass while the other leaned against a tree, laughing breathlessly at the other for practically falling to the ground. It was nice. Even if they never talked.

***

Thor liked jogging. It wasn't the most strenuous bit of exercise he did but it kept his legs strong, it was good for his lungs, and he loved the adrenaline boost it gave him. Besides, he had another incentive to go running. The girl who liked to race him.

At first, when he came to the college, he didn't go jogging every day. He worked out in the campus gym every day so he figured he could be a little lax with his jogging. But then he started noticing that a girl he passed when he did go jogging was trying to pass him every time he passed her. Of course, the second he noticed that he decided he had to give the girl a challenge. So he started speeding up when she tried to pass him. That seemed to be great motivation for her because soon she was keeping up with him when she couldn't before. It was great.

And Thor had to admit, she was nice to look at too. Not traditionally beautiful but he thought she was gorgeous. She was tall, about five inches shorter than him but still tall, and strong, especially her arms. She had short brown hair and eyes that seemed to change color every time she moved. And her smile. Thor thought that may be the best thing about her. She didn't show it often, usually her face was determined or in a resting expression that made her look like she wanted to kill everyone, but that just seemed to make her smiles all the more beautiful. And gods, Thor thought he sounded like a complete idiot for thinking that but it was true. He loved seeing it after a really good run when she either crashed on the ground or leaned against the nearest tree, her eyes on him and her breathing coming out mixed with laughter. It was nice. Thor liked jogging with her. Even if he'd never spoken a word to her.

***

After about a month of racing, Natasha finally asked why Claire was coming back to their dorm room sweatier and more worn out than usual. When Claire told her she was amused but her smile quickly disappeared when Claire admitted she'd never actually spoken to the guy. She called her an idiot, among other things, before telling her firmly to talk to the guy because it was _obvious_  she liked him. Claire had thought that was hilarious. Because no! She did not like Mister Hot Jogger! Sure he was hot and seemed nice enough and he had this smile that made her feel like a million bucks when she thought she was dying from exhaustion but she did not like him. Besides, even if she did there was no way he would like her. She wasn't beautiful. Hell, she wasn't even pretty. She looked like a guy. So why would he like her? Of course, when Claire said this, Natasha gave her a huge speech on self esteem and how strength was not limited to one gender and how she was not  _masculine_  for working out, women could work out too  _not_  just men. Claire listened to all of this but blew it off like she always did. She loved Natasha, loved her like the sister she'd never had or wanted, and usually she wouldn't question her. But she had to with this. Because Natasha didn't understand. She was gorgeous. She didn't understand what it was like to have a guy look at her like she was disgusting cause she had more muscles than boobs.

***

Loki noticed a change in his brother's running routine early on but he waited a while before saying something. About a month or so. He wanted to make sure it wasn't just a temporary change, a result of waking up early or extra energy. It definitely wasn't though, Thor's jogs continued to get shorter and shorter, and that's when Loki decided to say something. It was strange for Thor to cut work out time and he was concerned. So he said something and Thor turned a very light pink. Loki almost groaned. It was over a girl. God, he'd thought this ended for a while after Jane Foster broke his heart by deciding she couldn't have a boyfriend and a career. Hell, he'd hoped it was over. But apparently it wasn't and now he had to deal with it.

First thing he asked was what was the girl's name. Thor admitted he didn't know but that was okay, sometimes people just forgot to give out names. But then Thor revealed he hadn't talked to her  _at all_  and Loki felt like he'd been raised with a failure of a brother. He asked _why_  his brother hadn't even said _hello_  to her but the answer was unsatisfactory. Thor said he didn't think she wanted to talk to him. She didn't seem to have any interest in him besides silently competing. And why would she anyways? She probably knew a million guys just like him. She probably didn't think of him as anything except a tool to keep motivated. Loki had thrown a pillow at him for his words and asked the gods why he was cursed with such an idiot for a brother.

Thor got back at him by throwing his sweaty shirt in his face.

***

"No, I am not interested in him as more than a jogging partner! I just want to know what the tattoo means!" Claire exclaimed a few days after she talked to Natasha, her ears pink with embarrassment. She flopped down on the nearby couch and buried her face in her hands. " _God_ , how do you even know about him?" She groaned out, feeling as if she'd made an awful mistake.

Tony Stark grinned like a mad man. "Your Russian betrayed you. She told us everything." He said before waggling his eyebrows at her. He was sitting on a beanbag in the common room, books strewn out around him but not a single one of them open. He'd finished his work minutes after they'd gotten there.

"Wait,  _us?!_ " Claire practically shouted, sitting bolt upright with panic in her eyes. She immediately looked over at Bruce and Steve, both of whom gave her sheepish looks that confirmed Tony's words. "That's just great. Now I get to hear from everybody about how I don't talk to Mister Hot Jogger." She groaned out. Bruce smiled softly, amused, and Tony snickered while Steve cast her a sympathetic look, like he understood completely what it was like not being able to talk to someone hotter than you. Which he totally did understand because Claire had seen pictures of younger him and she could tell he'd had zero luck with the ladies. Thank God for puberty.

"Calm down Legolas, only we know. Widow knows who to tell things to." Tony told her, throwing a pillow at her to get her to shut up. She snatched it out of the air before it even came near her face and launched it right back at him. It him square in the face and when it fell away he was glaring. Steve snickered where he sat by the windows and got a pillow thrown at him for it by Tony. Of course, Steve did the same thing Claire did, temporarily abandoning his sketchbook to do so, and Tony groaned on the floor after being smacked in the face yet again by a pillow. "Bruce! They're being mean to me!" Tony whined out childishly.

Bruce smiled and shook his head at his friends. "You probably deserved it Tony." He said, as if he hadn't been listening in the entire time.

Tony mumbled out something that sounded suspiciously like "traitor" before turning back to Claire. "Alright Katniss, back to the matter at hand. What's the tattoo look like?" He asked her.

"No, you don't get to know now. You were mean." Claire said before lying back down and turning to face the back of the couch, her hands coming up to cradle her phone to her chest. On it was a picture she'd very carefully taken where Mister Hot Jogger couldn't see. It wasn't a very good picture, she had a crap phone, but the general look of the tattoo was clear. Claire thought it looked like a hammer. And  _no_  she didn't want to know if that was really what it was because she liked the guy. She wanted to know cause it looked cool. That was it.

***

Thor saw her on campus one day, carrying a compound bow. Which, if that was hers, explained why her arms were so strong. Thor didn't even know the college had an archery team but seeing her with a bow he almost considered joining. Then he realized how stupid that was an nearly punched himself in the head for it. He quickly hurried on to the gym and went straight for the weights. One of his friends was already there.

"Hey Thor. Haven't seen you around in a while." Steve said, smiling at the bigger guy as he wrapped up his hands. Thor immediately deserted the weights and started wrapping his own hands, knowing Steve was heading for the punching bags and wanting to spend as much time with him as possible so he could talk to him. Maybe he knew his jogging partner's name. His jogging partner who he'd been referring in his head as Smiles since that's what he was always trying to get out of her.

"Ah, yes. Loki has made me stay in the dorms lately to ensure I got my class work done." Thor said regrettably. He didn't like missing his work out sessions with his friends but Loki had given him a choice. Either miss the work outs with the guys and study or miss jogging in the mornings and study or else he'd call their mother. Thor had opted to miss the work outs, knowing he'd see his friends in other places but wouldn't see Smiles anywhere else.

"Good." A familiar voice spoke up. Thor didn't even have to turn to know who it was and he smiled when Tony Stark came into view a second later. "Can't have you failing, can we Point Break? Don't think your mystery girl, who you still haven't really told us anything about, by the way, would be too impressed by that." Tony said, both teasing and serious.

Thor turned his attention quickly to his half wrapped hand and wondered if he should have skipped this time too. He really was starting to fall behind and his football scholarship would only keep him there if he got good grades. "I saw her today. While I was coming here." He told his friends, going along with the subject Tony had brought up so he didn't have to think about his grades. He wanted to talk about Smiles anyways so it worked out.

"Yeah? Did you talk?" Steve asked, a genuinely interested look on his face. Thor liked that about Steve. He always seemed interested in what was going on with his friends, even if it was just something simple like what they're breakfast had been.

"N—."

"No, of course he didn't talk to her." Tony said before Thor could even get the whole word out. Thor shot the shorter boy an annoyed look but it went unnoticed as Tony grabbed a set of weights and started doing bicep curls. "Because Thor, like our good friend Merida, doesn't know how to talk to people he likes. He stays quiet and that's why he will never date anyone. Ever. For the rest of his miserable life." Tony said, casting Thor a look that was nine different kinds of disappointed and mocking. Tony, of course, didn't mean any of this in a mean way, he just wanted his friends to be happy and didn't see why they couldn't just do that, but it came out mean anyways.

While Steve scolded Tony for being mean, Thor tried to figure out who Merida was. He knew it was a reference to the movie Brave (which Tony had made him watch because apparently it was a sin to not understand his references and pop culture) but he wasn't sure exactly what type of reference it was. Was the person ginger? Did they have wild hair? Were they Scottish? Or believe in superstitions? And what gender was the person Tony was talking about? His friend had the habit of ignoring gender when giving out nicknames so whoever he was talking about could very well be a man.

For a second, Thor entertained the hope that Tony was referring to a friend of theirs, a girl, who liked archery. He quickly killed that hope though. There was no way his friends knew Smiles. He wasn't that lucky. So he decided not to ask about it and let the topic die. He would just keep the fact that Smiles had a bow to himself.

***

It didn't take long for both Claire and Thor to start adjusting their running times so that they met each other at the beginning of their runs instead of in the middle. One morning Claire spent an extra hour doing stretches in the campus courtyard just so that she could be there when he finally rolled around. Thor noticed she had been there for a while (simply by noticing she was taking too long to figure out what her next stretch should be, like she'd already done them) and made sure to get up early the next morning. He was delighted when Smiles looked surprised.

***

Okay so maybe racing Mister Hot Jogger from the campus to the end of the park in what was pretty close to a sprint wasn't the best idea. Claire barely managed to keep standing for a few minutes after they finished before collapsing against the ground. She laid on her back, eyes fixed on the sky, and let out a truly inhuman sound. It went on for a while, drifting somewhere between an indigent bear and an angry pterodactyl, and it earned her quite a few weird looks from others in the park. Mister Hot Jogger seemed to love it though because he let out this deep chuckle that had her eyes snapping over to him in a split second. She glared slightly. He was leaning against a tree looking like he was only just exhausted and not  _dying_  like she was. It was annoying. "Don't laugh at me." She said, forcing it all out in one breath so she didn't have to pant out the sentence. That stopped his laughing and for a second he just stared at her in surprise. Claire cocked an eyebrow at him for a second, not understand what was going on, and then it  _clicked_.

Oh. Dear. God. She'd spoken to him. She'd  _spoken to him_. Like actual words. Not just nodding or noises or anything, she'd actually talked to him. And not just a one word answer! It was a full freaking sentence! And  _oh God_ , her first words to him had been "don't laugh at me"! Not anything smooth like she sort of kind of maybe had been planning if she ever did actually speak to him. No, she'd said something annoyed and it'd been in her exhausted grumpy voice. Oh dear God this was why she never talked to hot guys.

Thor stared down at Smiles in shock. She'd actually spoken to him. Was he supposed to talk back? Oh gods, what was he even supposed to say? Before he could actually think on that question though he found himself saying "I would never laugh at you." Gods, he felt like slamming his head into the tree. Why did he feel so flustered, so nervous? He had no reason to feel nervous! No reason at all! Gods, he'd done so much better talking to Jane. He'd never worried about what to say with her….mainly because she never seemed to exactly care about the things he had to say.

Claire felt like she was having a heart attack. Oh man. Oh man. This was it. They weren't just silent jogging partners anymore. Stuff had progressed. Oh God, she was going to die. There was a reason she wasn't known as a talker. She mainly just gave out smart ass comments. The only people she ever really  _talked_  to were Natasha and the guys. "Then what were you just doing?" She asked, deciding to just let her mouth go on autopilot. It was better this way. If she thought about what she said she'd come off as someone who she wasn't and she didn't want that. It was best to just let Mister Hot Jogger know exactly who she was.

She watched as he paused, mouth opening for a second but no sound coming out as he couldn't figure out what to say. He stood up a little straighter and leaned against the tree a little less heavily. He looked like a flustered puppy and Claire just could not compute that because why in the hell would he be flustered talking to her? "I was merely chuckling at the sound you made." He said, gesturing towards her (and presumably the sound she'd made) in a quick movement. His hand fell down and slapped his thigh and Claire watched as he quickly brought it up to rest on his hip. Her eyes then snapped back to his face and to the way his hair was clinging to his forehead. "It was quite funny." He told her, looking nine kinds of awkward.

"Yeah?" Claire huffed out, sitting up as she did. It hurt and she let out a soft groan but she managed it. She shrugged slightly, making an "eh" face. She was trying to stay calm and ignore how awkward and nervous she felt but his accent really wasn't helping. She couldn't quite pinpoint where exactly he was from but she had a feeling he was Scandinavian. "I've made weirder." She told him.

A smile tugged at the corner of Thor's lips. She was interesting. Definitely interesting. And he had to admit, he kind of liked how her eyes didn't leave him for a second. He hummed a bit, moving away from the tree as he did. He noticed her stiffen slightly but when he just flopped down beside her, she relaxed a bit. "Well, I will not doubt that. It really was an impressive sound." He told her, grinning broadly at her from where he was laying.

Claire smirked slightly at that. "Yeah? I usually don't actually listen to them." She admitted. Mister Hot Jogger just grinned at her and soon they lapsed into silence. It was a nice silence, comfortable, but it had Claire twitching after a few minutes. They'd been silent with each other for so long, she just couldn't stand going back to that. Not after she'd heard his voice. It was just really nice and deep and _accented_  and she just really wanted to keep him talking. Because his voice was nice. Not because she wanted to hear more of what he had to say and get to know him. No. None of that. That was crush stuff. And she did not have a crush. Claire Barton did not get crushes. "Claire Barton." She said, sticking her hand out for him to take. She had to twist herself around quite a bit and it was uncomfortable but she managed it.

Thor felt his heart rate pick up considerably and it definitely wasn't because of exercise. He reached out and took her hand. She had tough hands and calloused fingers and Thor didn't think he'd ever had a better handshake in his life. And wow he sounded like an idiot, even to him. "Thor Odinson." He told her, masking his self bashing thoughts with an even bigger grin than the one he'd worn before.

Claire perked up at that and her eyebrows shot up. "Like the Norse god? The lightning and thunder dude?" She asked. Thor nodded but his surprise shined through. So few people actually knew the history of his name. "And isn't…Isn't Odin like the king of gods or something? Allfather or something like that?" Claire asked, trying very hard to remember the old Norse myths. She'd read up on them in high school, her attention being caught by the stories for about a week till she ran out of myths. All she could really remember about Thor was that he had a magic hammer, pretty much controlled storms, pretended to be a chick at one point, and was an amazing warrior. Thor nodded again and she felt like laughing. In fact, she did. She fell back laughing, covering her face with her hands. She didn't even have to look to know Thor was giving her a concerned look, probably thinking she'd suddenly gone insane. "Of course you'd be named after a god. Of course. That's just," Claire laughed for a moment, "that's just amazing. I mean, of course right? Of course you'd be named after a god. It makes perfect sense." She said and oh man she just couldn't stop laughing. Because the freakishly hot guy she went jogging with was named after a powerful god. Which of course that made since. Of course. Because he looked like a god. He had the endurance of a god. He sounded like a god. So of course his name was Thor.

Thor stared at Claire with worry though he was, admittedly, also a little upset. She was laughing at his name, of course he was upset. "I don't understand how my name is funny." He said, trying to sound annoyed but coming off as hurt. And he was hurt. Because…because he liked Claire. He liked her and it hurt him to see her making fun of him.

Claire's laughter dissolved almost immediately. "Aw shit, no, I didn't mean it like that." She said quickly, sitting up and spinning in the dirt so she was fully facing him. Panic welled up inside her when she saw a kicked puppy look on his face and she almost buried her face in her hands again but this time in pure shame for being such an idiot. "I wasn't laughing cause you're name is Thor. I was laughing cause you're really hot and you look like a god and sound like a god and you obviously got the stamina of a god and I just thought it was really fitting that your name was a god's and it just seemed funny to me." She spoke quickly, her hands moving quickly, and Thor had a strange feeling that very few people got her to act like this. It was true too. Claire usually didn't try to apologize this much. But she couldn't let him think she was being mean to him! She couldn't! She didn't want to lose her jogging buddy! "God, I am such an idiot. Wow. Good going Claire, being a dick. Couldn't just be a normal person and say 'cool name Thor, want to go get some burgers and talk about Norse mythology or some shit' now could ya? No, you had to be an idiot and laugh!" That whole bit was just to herself but Thor listened intently to her anyways. It revealed quite a bit about her, her rambling. Specifically that she seemed well versed in the art of criticizing herself and that she wanted to get burgers.

Thor visibly relaxed while she rambled on, a wave of relief washing over him. So she wasn't making fun of him. The girl he'd been racing for months, the girl he no definitely did not have a crush on, wasn't a bad person who laughed at other people's names. She just had an interesting sense of humor and bad timing. Excellent. "I would love to get burgers with you, Claire Barton." He told her without a thought. Because he really would love to get burgers with her. Not because he liked her. No. Because she was interesting and he felt he ought to get to know the girl he'd been racing these past few months.

And just like that, Claire Barton's usually hyped up brain grinded to an earth shattering stop.

It took her a good minute to reply and another minute to turn the strange noises coming out of her mouth into words.

Thor looked like he was going to have a heart attack when she didn't reply right away.

Both had a feeling there would be a lot of panicking, confusion, and worry between them from then on.

***

They went on exactly three dates before they stopped denying it. They liked each other and definitely in the "I want to have a relationship with you" way.

***

Their dates were always after they went jogging. The first three times they just went straight to a food joint, ordering then slumping down to eat and talk till they had to get back to campus or risk missing class. After receiving several hundred dirty looks for their sweat and smell, they made sure to shower before going on their dates. That was kind of how they met each other's siblings (in Thor's case, his actual sibling, and in Claire's, her figurative sister). Thor met Natasha because he'd forgotten the key to his dorm room and Loki was out so Claire just told him to come shower at her place and wear some of her spare clothes cause she had a ton of boy clothes (all of which she'd stolen from her friends). Natasha had been completely unimpressed. Claire met Loki because she'd been too lazy to march all the way to her dorm and Thor had offered his shower and his clothes for her to wear afterwards. Loki had been completely unimpressed.

The day Claire showered at Thor's, Loki met Natasha at the local coffee shop. She'd been waiting for him there though he didn't know how. He hadn't even called her yet. She smiled when he smacked a fifty down on her table, looking irate as hell, before slumping into the seat next to her. If only Thor had mentioned something about his jogging girl liking archery, he would have been able to back out of the bet before he lost.

They both decided not to tell the others (i.e. Tony, Steve, and Bruce who were all friends of Natasha's and acquaintances of Loki's). It would just be funnier that way.

***

Thor and Claire figured out after the fifth date they had the same friends. They spent about thirty minutes laughing over it before deciding not to say anything to them. This was a perfect opportunity and they weren't going to let it pass.

***

Claire told the guys she'd finally talked to Mister Hot Jogger a few days shy of two weeks after they'd unofficially started dating. Steve and Bruce had congratulated her while Tony bought her a drink (they were out drinking). When she told them she was going to be introducing them to him in a couple of days they seemed pleased. Especially Tony. Who bought her another drink. Seriously, he was such an enabler.

Thor waited till the next day before saying anything to them. They were grabbing breakfast together and the guys' "bird friend," as Tony called her, just happened to not be able to go out with them despite the fact that all of them had been telling her for weeks she had to meet their Scandinavian friend. He told them while they were eating and Tony had promised to buy him his favorite coffee on the way back. He told them he'd be introducing her to them soon, possibly sometime tomorrow. Tony had said that'd be great, they'd get to meet blondie's girlfriend and Hawkeye's boyfriend in one day. Thor had to hide his smile by taking a drink.

***

The day after Thor went out to breakfast with the guys was the day they decided to spring the surprise on their friends. They warned Loki and Natasha ahead of time so that they were both in the commons, sitting in the corner, when the time for Claire's Mister Hot Jogger to show up came around. Tony was sitting on his beanbag chair as usual, Bruce was on the couch, and Steve by the window. Claire paced behind the couch, chewing on her thumbnail and checking her phone every few seconds. To most of the people in the room, she seemed nervous. To Natasha and Loki, she seemed excited and was just trying to cover it up. She was so ready to see the looks on her friends' faces and trying so very hard not to give everything away. Tony glanced up at her from the blueprints he was sketching out and said her boyfriend must suck for making her wait this long. She hit him right in the middle of the forehead with a rubber band.

Finally, Thor sent her a text saying he was outside. "Okay guys, he's outside. I'm going to go get him. Be nice." She said before practically running out of the room.

"Jesus, you'd think she didn't trust us." Tony said jokingly, smiling a bit after the archer.

"Stark, I wouldn't trust you with a peanut." Loki spoke up from the corner, not taking his eyes off the book in front of him. Natasha smirked while she finished painting her nails.

Tony huffed and slumped back farther into his beanbag. "No one asked you, princess." He told the other boy, giving him an annoyed look. He let out an offended noise when Loki promptly presented him his middle finger. Natasha smacked the younger boy's hand and Loki immediately dropped the gesture to shoot her an annoyed look. One deadly look back though made him retreat and he quickly looked back down at his book.

About half a minute later he looked up again though cause that's when Claire yelled out "Alright, we're coming in!  _Be nice_!" Natasha and Loki glanced at each other briefly before looking quickly back towards the doorway, small smirks on their faces. They were going to love this.

Claire came walking in with Thor, her arm looped through his. They couldn't stop smiling either and not just because they were freaking out their friends. No, they were smiling because this was the first time they really felt like a couple. They'd held hands (twice only, once because they'd been in a crowd and didn't want to lose each other and once because a girl had been looking at Thor like he was prey and Claire had  ** _not_**  liked that) and they'd gone on dates but this was making it official. They were dating. They were a couple. It was great.

Naturally, Tony freaked out when he realized his two friends had been pining after  _each other_  and were not dating. "You couldn't have told me?!  _Me_?! I mean, I appreciate the joke but you couldn't tell  _me_?!" He complained once he was standing. Claire grinned at his frantic hand gestures. He wasn't actually much of a hand talker but when he was being dramatic he was. Tony let out a hurt sound that was also sort of like a scoff. "Rude. I tried to help the two of you and how do you repay me? You don't even tell me you're dating!" He said, sounding almost legitimately hurt. Claire would have believed him a little more if she couldn't see the way he was trying not to smirk.

"Congratulations you guys. It's about time." Steve spoke up as Tony finally paused for a second. He was smiling and looked immensely pleased for the both of them. "But Thor, remember, if you hurt Claire—."

" _Oh God_ , Steve no!" Claire groaned out dramatically, cutting him off. Steve's eyebrows shot up but the smile stayed on his face. In fact, he looked downright amused. "Don't do the whole big brother thing where you threaten him. I can defend my own honor, thank you very much." Claire told him.

Steve glanced over at Natasha and she smiled at him knowingly, looking away briefly from her nails to do so. She was paying attention of course, Natasha always paid attention, but she was pretending not to. Steve smiled at her again before turning back to Claire. "I was going to say that if he hurt you, Natasha would kill him." He said, sounding a bit smug and highly amused.

For a second Claire just stood there. Then she looked over at Natasha who raised an eyebrow at her, smirked, and blew on her drying nails. "Okay, yeah, you're right. Tasha would kill him." She said, looking back at Steve. As she said this, she gave Thor an affectionate squeeze. As if to say she cared a lot about him even if she knew her sister would kill him.

"Do not worry Steve, Natasha." Thor spoke up finally. He'd been enjoying Tony's dramatics and the other boys' reaction (Bruce had been chuckling and shaking his head the entire time) but at Steve's words he couldn't keep quiet. Claire glanced over at Bruce while he talked and exchanged a smile with him. He looked happy for her. For both of them. "I would never do anything to harm her and I have no intention of breaking her heart." Thor said, standing a little straighter as he did almost like he was trying to appear more respectable. It was funny. At least it was to Claire. It was like he was trying to impress her parents or something. Which, okay, maybe he sort of was. She didn't have parents so if anyone was going to take up the roles it would be Natasha and Steve. Which, wait, did that make Tony her brother? Cause Tony was sort of like their other child, the troublemaking one with attention problems. Did that make Bruce her brother too or her uncle? Huh. She'd have to figure that out later.

"No intention. Doesn't mean you won't." Tony pointed out, walking over. When he reached them, he turned so he was facing the room with them and flung his arm around Claire's shoulders. "Don't worry little bird, I'll make sure they won't find him if he does anything." He told her, giving her shoulders a squeeze. Claire shook her head at him, why were all the people in her life so weird? "So, who wants to get a drink? I think we should celebrate the new couple!" Tony exclaimed.

There was a collective groan throughout the room. Celebration drinking always ended badly.

They went drinking. And they got drunk. And Thor and Claire rubbed their single friends' noses in their relationships. It was great.

***

At one point, Claire was sitting by herself. She was feeling good and she was quiet as she watched Thor talking to Tony and Steve, telling them about how her and him had finally started talking and all their dates afterwards. Bruce slid into the seat beside her. They talked, Bruce letting her know he was happy for her. Then he told her that if Thor ever did do anything, it wouldn't just be Natasha he had to worry about. Claire believed him completely. Because he may not seem like much at first sight but Bruce Banner is terrifying when he wants to be.

***

Thor and Claire never seemed to act like a couple. Not to most people anyways. Yeah they'd hold hands but it may just be to see who was stronger in an arm wrestling contest (Thor won). They still raced every morning and Claire still cussed every time Thor passed her, cursing his future children, their children, and their children's children's children. She never said she'd kiss him if he beat her and he never said he'd do the same if she won. They'd shove each other, sometimes down a hill if they could manage it. Claire shot rubber arrows at Thor's head and Thor smacked her upside the head with a pillow hammer. They argued about who was faster, which football team was better, if Claire could in fact make the jump between the dorm buildings. They were loud and competitive and they always seemed to be trying to one up each other.

But all their friends knew they were so much more.

Thor and Claire acted just like a couple. They held hands all the time and sometimes Thor played with her fingers, stroking the calluses there and sometimes simply trapping her hand beneath his to prove it was bigger. Claire liked to hang on Thor, making him give her a piggyback ride because she could but always making him smile with whatever she whispered in his ears. They cuddled on couches and in booths at restaurants. Claire would indulge herself with sappiness and kiss him repeatedly in public and Thor would leave her breathless in public just to see her blush and smile. Claire shot rubber arrows at Thor's head and Thor smacked her upside the head with a pillow hammer. They argued over who got to pick the movie for date night and on whether or not it was gentlemanly or sexist for Thor to not want to go dutch on dates (Claire eventually convinced him to split the bills cause doing otherwise made her uncomfortable). They were loud and competitive and they always seemed to be trying to one up each other.

And they couldn't be happier.

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea stuck in my head. I know it sucks but I needed to write it out and I decided I might as well share it.


End file.
